Kathleen Urban
Kathleen Urban (born 1975) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from December 2000 to 2001 (succeeding Ernest Oliver and preceding Harold Becket), from 2002 to 2003 (succeeding Becket and preceding Oliver), from 2004 to 2005 (succeeding Oliver and preceding Elizabeth Reading), from 2015 to 2018 (succeeding William Herder and preceding Oliver), and from 2024 to 2026 (succeeding Harold Uxbridge and preceding Leslie Dobkins). Biography Kathleen Urban was born in Rochester, Kent, England in 1975, and she worked as an investment banker before entering into Conservative Party politics during the 1990s. In 2000, she was elected MP for Rochester and became Leader of the Conservative Party, and her party narrowly landed in third place; she helped Lib Dem MP Ernest Oliver form a coalition government. In December 2000, she was elected Prime Minister in a vote of 16-10 after a general election in which her party's support rose to 24.83%; she had the backing of her own party, the Lib Dems, and UKIP. Her government narrowly failed to approve an election threshold law in a vote of 14-10, and, as Parliament had passed a public housing law, the government was forced to approve a housing tax in January 2001. In the third week of 2001, the government approved road maintenance in a vote of 21-6. The government voted to keep agricultural research programs in place and finally succeeded in shooting down prime ministerial term limits in a vote of 19-8. In week 30 of 2001, the Conservatives lost some of their popularity, although they remained the party with the most votes in Parliament; only UKIP gained support in the election. In a narrow vote of 13-14, Urban lost her premiership to Labour leader Harold Becket; UKIP MP May Berkins was the deciding vote in Labour's favor, having rebelled against her party. Second government In 2002, aided by the election of a fifth UKIP MP, Urban won back the premiership in a vote of 17-11, defeating Becket's government. Her second government approved public libraries, supported the creation of a bus transport service, successfully shot down a party funding bill, reluctantly approved an income tax and a housing tax to support government programs, voted to keep the robbery penalty, approved government-provided primary education, and shot down attempts to pass a stamp duty. In the general election at the end of 2002, the Conservatives' popularity rose to 24.50%, making them the most popular party in the country, ahead of the Lib Dems with 23.40%, Labour with 21.19%, UKIP with 16.46%, and the SNP with 14.46%. In a vote of 16-10, Urban was supported by Parliament for another government. Urban was supported as Prime Minister by her own party, UKIP, and the SNP, defeating Oliver's Lib Dems, who had Labour and Lib Dem backing. The government defeated a UKIP attempt to abolish the monarchy in a vote of 18-7 (with 3 abstentions; this led to UKIP protests for several weeks), created an ambulance service, pass child benefit programs, pass universal healthcare in a unanimous vote of 23-0 (with 5 abstentions), kept public libraries, narrowly abolished road maintenance in a vote of 11-10 (with 7 abstentions), defeated a Labour and UKIP-backed land tax bill, defeated a public smoking ban, and failed to abolish the income tax. In the mid-2003 elections, the government lost support, and the results were the Conservatives and Lib Dems were tied with 7 seats each and Labour and UKIP with 6 each, while the SNP held 4. In a narrow vote of 15-12, Oliver ousted Urban from power a second time. Third government In early 2004, she was restored to power in a vote of 17-10, defeating Oliver and forming a coalition with UKIP and the SNP. The Conservative government continued agriculture research, and they also shot down a press freedom law in a vote of 11-11 (with 5 abstentions), backed by half of Labour and half of the Lib Dems, and opposing the SNP, the other half of the Lib Dems, and UKIP. They also shot down a land tax law backed by UKIP, but they voted to keep the income tax. The government failed in its plans to scrap universal healthcare, with UKIP, the SNP, and most Labour MPs opposing the plan. Urban also succeeded in scuppering a stamp duty bill promoted by Labour in a vote of 12-8 (with 8 abstentions), but Parliament legalized prostitution in a vote of 10-6 (with 11 abstentions) after half of the Conservatives, a faction of Labour, and all of the Lib Dems voted in favor of legalization. The government narrowly succeeded in abolishing public housing in a vote of 13-10, backed by the Lib Dems and opposing UKIP, the SNP, and Labour. UKIP then staged protests against the government in order to gain support among working-class Britons angered by the abolition of public housing. The government suffered a defeat when UKIP and the Lib Dems teamed up to legalize gambling in a vote of 14-7, but they allied with the Lib Dems and UKIP to shoot down a party funding bill. The government's plan to scrap retirement homes also failed. In the election at the end of 2004, UKIP took the lead with 26.24% of the vote and 8 seats, while the Conservatives were the second-largest party with 6 seats and 21.19% of the vote, the Lib Dems in third with 6 seats and 20.67% of the vote, Labour in fourth with 6 seats and 19.70% of the vote, and the SNP in fifth with 4 seats and 12.2% of the vote. Urban narrowly survived Elizabeth Reading's contest for the premiership with 16 votes to Reading's 12; Reading's support came from her own party's 8 MPs in addition to some SNP, Lib Dem, and Conservative MPs. Urban again shot down a press freedom bill; as a constitutional law, it required a massive majority to pass, but, as it passed by just 14-11, it was unable to be signed into law. Urban's abolition of the housing tax led to economic downturn, accelerating years of economic troubles and leading to the country falling into debt. In response to the downturn, Parliament rebelled against the government by passing a pollution tax in a vote of 15-6 (with 8 abstentions), witht the Conservatives and just one Lib Dem MP opposing the tax. The government decided to abolish the bus transport service to offset the depression, but Labour, the SNP, and UKIP voted 15-13 to keep the service. The government suffered another defeat when Labour, the SNP, and UKIP approved a land tax in a vote of 14-11, hoping to reverse the economic downturn. UKIP and the Lib Dems succeeded in keeping prostitution legal, hoping to use the tax revenues to fight the depression. In the election of mid-2005, the Conservatives shrunk to 5 seats, while UKIP increased to 9. The Lib Dems and Labour tied for second-largest party with 6 seats each, while the SNP won 4 seats. Weeks later, Reading was elected Prime Minister by a margin of 14-11, defeating Urban's government. Return to Power For 13 years, Urban sat in opposition to Labour governments or allied with the ruling UKIP party, mending relations with the only other major conservative party in Parliament in order to prevent a Labour resurgence. In 2015, her party was divided over the issue of abolishing the monarchy and introducing direct elections for Prime Ministers, but both laws ultimately passed through the House of Commons. In the 2015 presidential election, Urban was elected President of Britain with 24.5% of the vote; the runner-up was Labour leader Harold Becket with 20.2%, while incumbent Prime Minister William Herder of UKIP placed in a tied third with 19.6% (tying with Oliver's 19.6%). Urban's government shut down an attempt by UKIP to ensure that elections were held every 55 weeks instead of 35 weeks, providing 9 votes against the bill to UKIP and the Opposition's 14; the Opposition was unable to achieve a majority, hence the bill's failure. The government voted to abolish the pollution tax 22-0 and to keep public libraries 12-10; 63.7% of citizens approved a tobacco tax in a referendum, Parliament kept sex education 13-11, the Parliament kept the robbery penalty 26-1, and Parliament declined vehicle emission limits 17-8 on 31 December 2015. Parliament also failed to reach a majority in approving press freedom, but the government, working together with Labour, approved the death sentence 16-10, despite UKIP, the SNP, and the Lib Dems' opposition. The government also successfully defeated an attempt to levy a highway toll, defeated a protest prohibition law, and failed to create a food control agency. In the 20th week of 2016, UKIP won 30.03% of the vote and 9 seats, the Tories won 24.53% and 7 seats, Labour won 21.03% and 6 seats, the Lib Dems won 18.47% and 6 seats, and the SNP won 5.94% and 2 seats. Despite the electoral setback, Urban was elected President with 22.3% of the vote, with Oliver in second with 21.6% of the vote and Herder in third with 19.9%. Urban's sixth government successfully prevented religious education in schools and prevented child benefit programs from being passed. A pollution tax bill failed 13-13, and the government continued to fight off new taxes and preserve existing programs. In the January 2017 general election, UKIP won 33.43% of the vote and 10 seats, the Tories won 21.1% and 6 seats, the Lib Dems won 20.77% and 6 seats, Labour won 19.59% and 6 seats, and the SNP won 5.08% and 2 seats. The first round of presidential elections was inconclusive, as Ernest Oliver and Harold Becket tied with 21.4% of the vote between them; this left Urban as a lame-duck president until a runoff could be held months later. Meanwhile, the government defeated a pollution tax proposal and failed to abolish the custom duty, and it failed in its attempt to block a press freedom amendment, which passed 20-5. UKIP attempted to use the momentum to change the presidential elections into elections between two candidates, but it failed 13-10, as the 13 in favor did not form a majority; it also failed to pass another expansion of Parliament to 40 seats in a vote of 14-8. In the next general election, Week 38 of 2017, UKIP won 34.14% of the vote and 10 seats, the Tories won 20.35% and 6 seats, the Lib Dems won 19.44% and 6 seats, Labour won 19.02% and 6 seats, and the SNP won 7.06% and 2 seats. In the presidential election of Week 40 of 2017, Urban won with 20.8% of the vote, with UKIP, the SNP, and Labour placing second in a three-way tie at 19.9% and the Lib Dems placing third with 19.6%. The citizenry of Britain then approved a church tax in a referendum voted on by 57.9% of Britons, with 89.1% supporting it. Early into Urban's next term, she suffered a severe setback when UKIP successfully spearheaded a constitutional amendment which set elections at every 55 weeks rather than 35, passing 20-4. However, another attempt to force citizens to choose between only two candidates failed 10-16, with the 16 in favor not having a majority of votes. The goverment struck back by successfully abolishing the income tax in a 10-9 decision, leading to economic downturn. In early 2018, Parliament voted 17-9 to implement prison labor. Later in 2018, the next general election saw UKIP win 31.58% of the vote and 10 seats, the Tories won 19.14% and 9 seats, Labour won 20.99% and 6 seats, the Lib Dems won 20.56% and 6 seats, and the SNP won 7.73% and 2 seats. In the ensuing presidential election, she was defeated for re-election by Oliver, who won 21.2% of the vote to her 20.4%; she tied with Labour and was behind Herder with 20.9%. In 2024, she returned to the premiership with 53% of the vote to Harold Uxbridge's 47%. The Commons' first vote under Urban was a 14-10 vote to legalize gambling, only to abolish it 15-12 in early 2025. The Commons also abolished mandatory vaccinations, and voted 12-12 in a failed vote to liberalize drug laws. The late 2025 elections saw UKIP drop to 30.6% and 9 seats, the Tories rise to 22.47% and 7 seats, Labour rise to 20.29% and 6 seats, the Lib Dems drop to 14.89% and 4 seats, and the SNP rise to 11.75% and 4 seats. The Commons then voted 17-10 to approve gender quotas before a premiership election was held, during which Urban won re-election with 55.3% to Uxbridge's 44.7%. In early 2026, an economic boom revitalized the nation, and UKIP bribed the Lib Dems to back their proposal to return to the traditional system of choosing prime ministers, in which Parliament would decide; this was a major reversal of UKIP's formerly populist policies. UKIP also led the 18-4 vote to reduce Parliament to 24 seats, hoping to decrease bureaucracy to regain some of its formerly populist image. The late 2026 election saw UKIP win 31.05% and 7 seats, while the Tories shrunk to 21.36% and 5 seats, Labour shrunk to 20.10% and 5 seats, the Lib dems rose to 15.47% and 4 seats, and the SNP rose to 12.02% and 3 seats. UKIP then won the support of 15 MPs to the Tories' 7, ousting Urban from power and allowing for UKIP leader Leslie Dobkins to take power. Category:1975 births Category:British politicians Category:British Category:Politicians Category:Anglicans Category:Protestants Category:Conservative Party members Category:British conservatives Category:Conservatives Category:British prime ministers Category:Prime ministers Category:EnglishCategory:Living people